The Veritas combination plane is more on par with the older style Stanley castings (Type 6 and earlier, where the knob is on the main casting). The size is much more similar to that than the Type 7 and later castings.

The weights also reflected that as well. The Veritas was 60.75oz (~3.8lbs), the Type 7 was 68.55oz(~4.28lbs), and the Type 15 was way off the deep end at 82.1oz (~5.13lbs). There was a significantly noticeable difference, as one would imagine from a nearly 1/3 increase in weight.

I found thetote on the Veritas to be a lot more comfortable than I was expecting. I liked it since the shape was better, to my feel, than the other totes from Veritas. It’s different than on the shooting plane (only Veritas plane I own), as well as the skew rabbit plane (only other Veritas Dave had). It feels a little thicker than the other tote, and a little larger than the #45. Something that took some getting used to at first was a lack of anything to rest my pointer finger against, which is how I typically hold a #45. It didn’t take long to get used to, though, as I didn’t notice it when I was actually using the tool.

The skates on the Veritas have a wider contact point than the #45 does. I think this helped a little bit with the stability of the plane. It felt less wobbly in use than the #45. It is possible that the stability is also a result of less weight than the #45 too, but that’s difficult to prove with the time and resources we had.

Something that I found quite handy when setting up the plane was the knob in the center of the sliding skate on the Veritas. Veritas calls it the blade guide knob, and it pushes against the side of the blade, keeping it in place against the main casting. If you’ve used a #45 you’ve probably gotten used to making sure the plane blade was pushed over while tightening it down. That’s essentially what this knob is for, and it works well. It also helps to position the sliding skate exactly where you want it too, we found.

Veritas also covered the scenario where you have a smaller iron and may not have the sliding skate installed. There’s a small brass knob that screws in just behind the blade, and will similarly hold it against the main skate. Something we found was that the Stanley 1/8 and 3/16 irons didn’t work for this, since the blades weren’t wide enough for the knob to reach it. The Veritas irons are wider and have a step down to the narrow widths, so it works for their irons.